1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reversible image recording method using a reversible thermosensitive material which is capable of recording and erasing information repeatedly by the application of heat thereto, and more particularly to n reversible image recording method using a film or card which comprises the above-mentioned reversible thermosensitive recording material.
2. Discussion of Background
Recently a rewritable thermosensitive recording material has been demanded for saving paper resources. As most promising rewritable thermosensitive recording materials as such recording materials, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 54-119377 and 55-154198 have disclosed reversible thermosensitive recording materials, each of which comprises a support and a reversible thermosensitive recording layer formed thereon, comprising a matrix resin such as polyester, and an organic low-molecular-weight material such as a higher alcohol or higher fatty acid, which is dispersed in the matrix resin.
In the reversible thermosensitive recording materials of the above-mentioned type, recording and erasure of information, that is, the formation and erasure of images, are achieved by utilizing the temperature-dependent transparency-changing properties of the reversible thermosensitive recording layer in the recording material. In the same manner as in the conventional thermosensitive recording materials of an irreversible type, images can be formed on the reversible thermosensitive recording material by use of a heating element such as a thermal head or a hot stamp, and moreover, images thus formed on the recording material can be reversibly erased therefrom with the application of heat thereto.
A thermal head is in most general use to apply heat to the irreversible thermosensitive recording material for recording, and repeated image formation and erasure by use of a thermal head on the reversible thermosensitive recording material has also been studied.
However, it has been recently found that repeated image formation and erasure on the reversible thermosensitive recording material by use of a thermal head remarkably accelerates the deterioration of the reversible thermosensitive recording material in comparison with other heat application means, for instance, a hot stamp.
Moreover, the inventors of the present invention have discovered that the deterioration of the reversible thermosensitive recording material is mainly caused by the stress which is generated in the reversible thermosensitive recording material during the relative movements of a heating element of a thermal head and the reversible thermosensitive recording material when images are recorded and/or erased.